Revisiting previous clean water villages

Seng, our Clean Water Program Manager, discusses the recent revisit to previous clean water village and how this helps to refine JWOC's programs for the future

Making time available to return to our previous Clean Water villages is an important aspect of the Clean Water Program. It enables us to recognize what has changed in those villages and what the project can do more to support the needs of the villagers. It helps us evaluate the program so we can be more effective as we continue to deliver access to clean water and hygiene education to villages in need.

The aim of the revisit was to assess the villages current access to clean water, their hygiene practices, access to clean drinking water and their sanitation needs.

We chose seven villages, DuonKeov, Brasat Char, Doun On, Antangkon, Ta Kam, Pong Ro, and KorkBeng, to revisit because it had been more than two years since we had initially started working with them. They are all around 30kilometres from JWOC and the size of the villages vary from 150 – 350 families. All the villages that we revisited were primarily farming villages which grow one rice crop per year with many of the villagers leaving to work illegally in Thailand.

Kouk Beng, which is the latest village on the revisit list, had really positive results. All JWOC wells are being used, they’re working properly and have enough water all year round.

We reported a number of well breakages, but the breakages are small and the wells are still operational. One positive aspect of the revisit was that villagers were fixing their own wells. In Kouk Beng we found that all the villagers had made repairs to the wells and all were all operational.

Many of the villagers continue to still use filters from JWOC, we found that a few families had bought new filters. A small amount of villagers were drinking water directly from the source without using a filter, their reason for this was that they weren’t aware of where to get a filter from. We provided villagers with contact details for purchasing new filters. Upon evaluation we have decided to add extra training components regarding water filter usage. We are investigating why some villagers still choose to drink directly from the water source but in the meantime, we have updated the trainings to make them more interactive. Furthermore, we have improved the visuals that are used in the flip charts so the scholarship students convey the important information regarding water filters in a more engaging fashion. We have also included an understanding checklist into the trainings. 

In terms of hygiene knowledge acquisition we have seen most practicing well, 69% mention at least 3important activities to wash their hands before eating, before preparing food and after using the toilet especially they use the soap most of time when they are washing their hands. Most of villagers are brushing their teeth every day, 95% stated that brushing the teeth every day is important.

What we have found in the villages is really important information that helps us refine the program for the future. We are always looking for ways to improve the program and analyzing and assessing our previous work is the best way to move forward. We will continue to help communities help themselves as it is the way that can bring about sustainable change.

As the Clean Water Program Manager I would like to thank everyone who has made our program possible, our communities cannot improve without your support, thank you!

My experience at the Cambodia Science and Engineering Festival by Nesa

Nesa Khoun is our Child development coordinator and librarian, she is also a Science teacher at JWOC.

Did you know that almost everything around us is the result of Science? People live with science everyday but they just never notice about what science is. Through this I have had a great chance to go to Phnom Penh to join the Festival about Science and Engineering. It was great because this was the first time for Cambodia to hold this big event and there were around thousand people joining. It was held for three days from the 12th to the 14th of March 2015.  I was so lucky that I was also one of those people who was not only watching but also showing about the kind of science material to everyone. And now I would love to share some feelings and describe about who I have met and what I did.

            The place where the event held was in Royal University Phnom Penh. It was a big and famous university and not so far from the hotel where we stayed. It was suppose to take just 15 minutes to arrive there but because the traffic was so busy it took a bit longer. When I talked about this, it reminded me about the first morning of the event. Because we thought that we just spent around fifteen minutes to go to the event so we left the hotel at 8:30am as the event would start at 9am. Unfortunately, the traffic was so bad. The roads were so crowded and busy. Do you know what we did? We decided to walk to the festival. I loved it so much; this was the first highlight of the day. It was great as we arrived there not too late.

            At the event there were many people. I was so glad because when we arrived and were preparing the experiments at the booth many people came and asked about what we were doing. There were 5 of us who worked in shifts on the booth. We were divided into two groups and we rotated every hour and a half. This was a great idea because we could have time to walk around to get to know people and see what they were doing. I thought all the other projects were so interesting. Some of the other booths were demonstrating about air pollution and others showed about how to make electricity from lemons, how to make the rocket fly, how to make a bouncy ball and so on. One booth in particular caught my interest. They were from VSO. They made science books by combining experiments from grade 7 to grade 9 and moreover there was a great teacher at the booth to show about science experiment. He showed us about an illusion with candles and the difference between strong acids and weak acids.

At our booth we had three projects to show. First, it was about the Lego Kits activity, second about how to see the difference between animal cells and plant cells through the microscope and third about the density of water. What we did was great because there were many people interested in Lego kits and the microscope. Most of them have never seen it before. I was glad because we showed them new things and let them to try the new things that they have never known.

What is more, to make participants more interested they had invited high ranking officers to come and open the festival. And to create some fun they had some competition games and invited a famous singer to sing in the event. Her name is Laura Mam. There was a show of breaking dance as well. I really like it. Both dancers danced so well with the action of the robot.  

            Finally, I would love to say that this was a great opportunity for me to learn something new. It is also called Science as Science is the way of learning something new around us and it is very important for each life. Furthermore, it helps me more in teaching science at JWOC by giving me new and good ideas in teaching science. 

Developing my team - Konthea

I am Konthea, Community Liaison Program Manager at Journeys Within Our Community. I have been working here for two years and learned a lot from this job. To be able to run this program smoothly I have contributed lots of ideas, energy and time. I learned from mistakes and adapted to changes to make the program better. However, to make changes to improve the program I have worked closely with my team of scholarship 

students.

There are a few points I want to share about them as I recognized they have been improving a lot through this program. One thing they are now able to do is provide half of the training on Home Gardening to the villagers by themselves. So, we do not need to spend money on an external trainer as before. This is quite important for JWOC and especially for themselves. I found they can take the responsibility of the trainings very well including explaining and leading people to practice what they have been taught and also they can deal with questions immediately and confidently. This is something that makes me really proud of them.

The other thing is that my scholarship students’ team is able to communicate with local people and the authorities very well, even without me. This point was a big concern for me before, as they always needed me to be with them and begin the conversation. But now they come back from the field with answers and or results I wanted. At the start of the year we provided a communication workshop which focused on this aspect of their development as I found this is the most important skill needed for the program, especially Community Liaison.

The last point I want to talk about them is they now understand very well about what they are doing. They know how to respond to the requests from beneficiaries, recognize problems and best practices and share it within the team. This point is something very great and it is what I want them to keep doing more and more.

Since they are developing every day, both new and old team members are helpful to this program. They are building trust for me and hope for JWOC. I wish I can help them to improve more in the future.

Looking ahead - Malin's goals for 2015

Hello! My name is Malin, I’m a 1st year scholarship student at JWOC. I have 3 sisters and I live with two of them. My grandma and my mom they live in Chikreng village to the east of Siem Reap.

I am looking forward to achieving my goals in 2015. For my goal in 2015 I want to work in an organization as a field staff member. I want to work there because I want to know how people in our rural society live so I can learn about what I can do to help them, first I want to understand them so I am able to connect with them better. I really want to work there because I love traveling to the country side of Cambodia, I find the people in the countryside really kind and welcoming and now people living in the city have different lifestyles to the rural population. I want to change my life, I want to experience new situations and environments and working in the field with rural communities is a perfect opportunity for this. I want to study their culture and I also want to share the knowledge with them that I have learned here at JWOC.

At Present, I’m studying at Build Bright University and work as a English teacher at New York International school, full time, but if I am able to find a job working with another organization I will cut my teaching hours down to part time. Teaching is just a small part of my dream; also I want to know one more language after Khmer and English. I told myself in 2015 I would have to learn one more language beside English. Also I am really excited to study harder and harder so I can be a good and proud employee in the Asian community. I want to help Cambodia strive to be a helpful member of the larger Asian community to do this I must try my hardest to be a good citizen.

I will always try my hardest to improve my studying so my dreams can come true, I believe that education is the key; it can lead me to do the right thing and be confident in my decisions. It will give me more opportunities to work. I hope that my fellow students can also study hard and help Cambodia grow.

Only Education Can Empower People

By Khoeurn Khart

Early in the morning when I come to work, kids are playing in JWOC’s yard and running around with their friends. Some of our students talk about their homework and families while the others share stories about things that happened in their state school.  The value of education for people in our community and the surrounding areas where JWOC works is immeasurable and helps so many. JWOC provides a positive learning environment where people can share ideas, ask questions and grow. What inspires me about JWOC is our student diversity.  I have met students from big families, some that are living in migrant villages, some that are farmers, small business owners or staff at the hotels. Our diverse student body is always growing and evolving.

At JWOC, students come to learn together and develop new friendships. They feel more comfortable and are cared when they arrive to JWOC. Since JWOC classes are only one or two hours long, our students use their free time to study either in the afternoon or the evening at JWOC both on weekdays or weekends. Apart from learning English, computer and sewing skills, some parents allow their kids to play in the library, sing, and listen to story on Sundays. It is a special day that kids learn how to cut, paint, stick and create new things with fun activities.

Our students are very friendly, and when they see me, they try to communicate in English. The skills they gained at JWOC help them change their living condition, and I am happy to hear this from them. They are able to work for hotels, restaurants, guesthouses or other NGOs. I see that things around our community have changed gradually. Kids like learning and trying new things compared to my time growing up.

From the knowledge I have gained while attending university to my work at JWOC, there is no doubt that education has shaped who I am today. Education impacts so many areas of my daily life, and it is for this reason that I feel very excited about the work I do at JWOC. Through my experiences, I learn that only education can empower people.